


When The Road Ends

by CheeseIsCoolIThink



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Angst, College, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Requited Love, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 07:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30052161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheeseIsCoolIThink/pseuds/CheeseIsCoolIThink
Summary: Karl Jacobs is on an after college road trip around the United States.Right now he is currently in Texas.In the middle of nowhere, in Texas.But it's alright, it's peaceful and the desert scenery isn't all that bad.Until his car breaks down.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Karl drove carefully down the dirt road. The sudden bump of his van riding over rocks and going through small pot holes happened every few seconds. 

A gentle breeze swept through his window as he passed through the desert. The sun blazed down on him and small beads of sweat dripped slowly from his forehead. 

Sighing to himself he lifted his hand from the steering wheel and ran it through his hair.

He placed it back down his palms sticking to it as the sweat continued to pile. 

Looking out his window for a second he observed the many cacti sprinkling the ground, some had small, almost hot pink flowers sprouting from them, while others only had the signature spikes glistening in the hot sunlight. 

He had finally graduated from college and was looking for a place to start his writing career. 

Due to this he was now on a road trip around the United States all by himself in a shitty van.

It smelled of BO and monsters as well as some smoke.

The soft sound of the broken muffler played against his music.

Currently he was playing 505 by Arctic Monkeys, quietly humming with the tune as the music carried on.

Right now he was in Texas. 

In an estranged desert.

Alone.

Having no Idea where exactly he's headed, and where he even is at all.

Karls stomach growled slightly, he shrugged to himself and looked over at the time. 

2:32.

He wanted to find a nice place to park at so he could sleep. Looks like he could stop and eat for a few minutes before continuing.

Slowing down he pulled onto the side of the road slightly, leaving just enough room for a car to squeeze by if there was one.

Pulling the keys out of the ignition he hopped out of the front seat and made his way to the back.

Before pulling open the enormous doors of his van he took a moment to breath in the pleasant scent of sand and the sun. 

Although it was so hot, Karl liked Texas, there seemed to be some sort of calming factor to riding down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, blasting you favorite songs without anyone there to judge. 

Sighing contently he opened the doors. 

Once again he was greeted with the unpleasant smell of which his van reeked of.

He stuck his tongue out in disgust and grabbed a small plastic bag reaching in and grabbing a sandwich.

He slammed the door shut and turned to lean against it as his nose consumed the fresh air, letting it trail into his lungs and then be exhaled.

He opened the smaller plastic bag which the sandwich was in and took a bite.

It wasn't the best but it was good enough and would satisfy his hunger for the remaining hours of the ride. 

A small breeze hit him and he relaxed.

It felt good on his clammy, hot skin.

As soon as he was done he made his way back to the front seat, taking his last breath of fresh air he abruptly opened the door and sat back onto the leather seat.

His skin stuck to it almost immediately and he huffed. 

"God it's so gross," He rolled his eyes, "I really need to take a shower," 

Grabbing his keys he stuck it into the ignition, happy to be on the road once again. 

He twisted once.

Nothing.

'What the-'

He twisted again.

Still nothing.

"No no no," he laughed nervously to himself, "You can't do this now come on,"

He twisted a few more times.

But to no avail his car still didn't turn on.

"Fuck," He mumbled.

Quickly he grabbed his phone from the center console and frantically turned it on.

No connection.

"You're kidding me," he spat, "Shit,"

He leaned into his chair, giving a small squeak as he did so.

"God fucling damnitt," he closed his eyes shut and groaned, "Why now? And why here, of all places," 

He threw his hands into the air and placed them under his neck, supporting it.

"Now I have to wait," he sighed, "Honking wait,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karls not sure how long he's been sitting there.

The sun had finally begun to set, although the deadly heat had not. 

He had to have gone through about three monsters, now he is on his fourth.

He sipped it slowly, even though monsters were packed with caffeine, he couldn't help but feel drained of all life inside him. 

Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time he leaned forward.

The sunset was beautiful, although not quite enough to boost his mood.

The colors of pink and orange swirled perfectly together, and the clouds looked like soft cotton candy in the sky, mirroring the gorgeous colors around it.

Taking a wide stretch he groaned, the heat had finally started to quench. 

Giving a tired smile he closed his eyes. 

Karl was just about to drift off, stars now dancing around and shining brightly in the dark, navy sky.

Suddenly he heard something.

It seemed to be coming up the road?

"Holy shit please," Karl prayed.

He briefly looked out his side mirror to see a van, much nicer than his, trailing up the road.

"Oh my honk finally," he gasped.

He brought down his sunshade and opened the sliding mirror. 

"I look like shit," he groaned.

His caramel colored hair was tousled all over place and he had bags under his eyes.

He looked as if he had run a marathon or some shit.

"Ah fuck," he quickly patted down his hir as he heared the van pull over and stop just behind his own. 

Quickly opening his door and jumping out he dusted himself off, although it most likely did nothing.

He heard the others' doors shut as well. 

Honestly Karl was prepared to see an old hillbilly man, but when he looked up he was pleasantly surprised.

"You alright man?" A voice asked, "I mean you're pulled over in the middle of nowhere so I'm guessing not but I don't know," They chuckled. 

Their voice was husky, yet sweet. It was calming.

The person seemed to be a young man, around Karls age, ( 19-20 ) with medium length black hair and a white bandana keeping his bangs from sweeping into his face.

His skin was lightly tanned and he wore a white tank top and black jeans. 

He had slight stubble on his chin and brown eyes of which made Karl flush lightly.

"Uh yeah, my car kinda, uh," he stopped for a moment to look back at it and snorted, "Broke," he looked back at him.

"Damn that sucks," He sighed, "I'm guessing you didn't even hear it try to start up,"

"Yep," Karl sighed, "I'm stuck here," 

The guy shrugged, "Well my name's Sapnap," he stuck his hand out to Karl. 

Karl took it shook his hand lightly, Sapnaps skin was soft against his own, "I'm Karl,"

Sapnal smiled, "Nice to meet you," he looked over at the van, "Even in these unfortunate circumstances," 

"Mhm," Karl hummed nodding his head in agreement.

"So," He began,"Wanna try booting this thing up?"

Karl looked over at him, "If we can," he giggled, 

Sapnap laughs with him, "If we can," he repeats.

Sapnap walks slowly to his car and turns it on, softly reeling up next to Carl's van and exiting.

"Here are the cables," He says, holding them up, "Let's get this thing going,"

Karl smiles.

He's kinda cute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't work.

It didn't honking work.

Because of course it wouldn't! That wouldn't be fun, and the world hates Karl Jacobs.

Or at least he thinks so.

He groaned and hit his head lightly against the steering wheel.

"You alright," Sapnap asked, snorting a little.

"Nope," Karl sighed and lifted his head.

He looked to Sapnap, "I have come to the unfortunate situation that I am currently stuck in the middle of nowhere and my car refuses to work," 

Sapnap looked at his van, "I think we might just have to leave it here,"

"We?" Karl queried,

"Oh yeah I forgot to ask," he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck nervously, "If you want you can ride with me,"

"Are you sure?" Karl asked, "I'd love to but I feel bad intruding," he looked down at the ground.

"Nah it's cool," Sapnap reassured him,"It gets kinda boring on my own anyways,"

"Thank you so much," Karl smiled, "I thought I'd be stuck out here forever,"

Sapnap gave him a small smile back, "Don't mention it, you seem like a pretty cool person anyways," Karl nodded, "Now go get your stuff, we should get going soon,"


	2. Inspiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karl talks about why he was out there.
> 
> Sapnap doesn't.

Karl quickly grabbed his stuff from his van and brang it lazily over to Sapnaps, slamming it into the floor. 

"You alright there dude," he chuckled, "I can put all your stuff in. You look pretty beat up."

Karl snorted, "Nope, and thanks," he proceeded to climb into the back of the van and face planted into a mattress of which was placed where some seats would be.

The few blankets and pillows consumed him as he fell.

It was only now that Karl realized how well…. Good, Sapnaps car smelt.

Instead of BO and energy drinks, it smelt of lavender.

A little strange considering they're in the middle of nowhere and probably hours away from any sort of human structure, but nice nonetheless.

Breathing it in, Karl shut his eyes, hearing Sapnap carry a few items and place them down while humming.

With each one placed the van bounced a little.

It was kinda calming.

Snuggling more into the practically strangers bed, he huddled himself comfortably in a fuzzy white blanket and rested his head amongst one of the few pillows.

He gave a content sigh before drifting off, the sound of the vans doors shutting and Sapnap turning on the ignition echoed in his ears as he fell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hot sun carried itself through the windows of the van, falling onto Karls face it extenuatated his freckles, making the small specks ambure stand out against his pale face.

He groaned and stretched his arms, the sound of music played and the soft humming of the van fell under it.

Turning on his stomach he looked up at the driver's seat.

Sapnap sat singing along to a song of which he recognized.

I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys.

Well that's good, they most likely have similar music taste so hopefully bickering over music won't be an issue.

Karl took a moment to take in the scene.

Sapnap sang along to the song beautifully. His voice mixed quite well, and gave Karl a sense of calmness.

Although he couldn't see his face, his hair shone brightly in the light of the sun.

Looking out the window Karl spotted that they were currently in a city.

Motels and gas stations scattered around restaurants and cars flew up and down the roads.

Karl shrugged and sat up a little bit only to fall when Sapnap stopped at a red light.

He fell onto the mattress again with a small grunt.

Sapnap turned to face him, "Oh hey you're up!" he smiled at him and Karl gave a clumsy thumbs up, "Well hurry and climb in the passenger seat I don't want you to get hurt rolling around back there." 

Karl gave a nod and obliged to Sapnaps commandes quickly climbing into the front seat and buckling himself so as to not get hurt.

"How long was I out," he asked.

It must have been long given it's 10:47.

"Pretty long, slept the whole night. I don't blame you, I would have done the same if it happened to me," he giggled.

Karl gave an agreeing hum in response.

"So whatcha out here for," Sapnap asked,

"Oh, I graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in creative writing so I decided to go on a road trip to try and find something to write about," he answered, "I haven't had anything interesting besides this happen so," his sentence trailed off.

"Woah cool dude," Sapnap answered, "I dropped out of college a long time ago," he snorted.

Karl giggled, "So why are you,"

"Oh uh," Sapnap stopped for a sec, and the excitement and happiness in his voice significantly died down, "Just for a fun trip," he responded.

It felt like it really wasn't, but what can he say? They were almost complete strangers so there's no reason to be digging into personal business.

"Sounds nice," Karl smiled, hoping to bump up the mood,

"It has been," Sapnap nodded, his voice seemed to slightly regane it's previous joy.

"So what are we going to do, or where are we going," Karl looked over at him,

"Right now we are headed to a hotel so we can shower and shit." Karl giggled at his comment, "You look like you need it," 

"Wow rude," Karl rolled his eyes sarcastically,

"Mhm, I am," Sapnap stated proudly.

They both broke out into a fit of laughter, the last bits of tension and doubt incinerated in the air, leaving only the friendliness living now. 

Once their fit was over, Karl leaned back into the seat he was in and looked out the window.

Buildings flew by and occasionally it would stop at one or two when they hit a red light.

It was still hot but luckily Sapnaps air conditioning wasn't broken like his own.

He remembered how his rusty old van is probably sitting on that abandoned road alone.

The sun blazing down on it making the many monster cans melt into the floor and cup holder.

He'd have to deal with it later but, who cares? Right now things are nice. And he'd rather keep it that way. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had finally arrived at the hotel, Sapnap went inside to get a room while Karl got their bags.

It wasn't super fancy, but wasn't dog shit ethier.

Guess it's about average.

"We'll be staying here for the night," Sapnap states as they walked into the room.

The stale scent of nothingness lingered in it and the sheets smelt like cheap laundry detergent. 

"Sounds good," Karl smiled.

The room had two beds, which for some reason made Karl a little sad, and the washroom was small but functional enough for the day. 

"Wanna go take a quick shower? Sapnap looked over at him, "I can wait a few minutes for mine," 

"Sure," Karl walked over to the washroom and closed the door, he turned on the water and was greeted by the cold wetness hitting his skin.

He shivered at the sudden impact as it slowly began to warm up.

Grabbing the cheap hotel shampoo he squirted it into his hand and began running it through his hair.

He quickly rinsed it out and continued the same with the conditioner.

Before leaving he washed himself with some shitty body wash, not the greatest but good enough.

Making his way out of the shower he threw on a towel around his waist and exited into the shared room.

"I'm done," he motioned to the washroom.

Sapnap was on his bed texting someone, "Oh thanks, I put your phone on charge by the way,"

"Thanks," Karl gave a bright smile,

"Mhm," Sapnap hummed in response.

He didn't take long, Karl just sat on his bed with his laptop trying to figure out what he could write, but nothing came to mind. 

He groaned and shut it.

Sapnap snorted from the other bed, "You alright dude?" he questioned,

"Yeah, I just can't really find much inspiration,"

Sapnap shrugged, "I'm sure you'll find some," he gave a calming smile to Karl of which he reciprocated. 

"Well I'm heading to bed, you might want to do the same," Sapnap leaned over and turned off the light of the lamp which sat on a small coffee table next to his bed.

Doing the same Karl responded, "Yeah I'm doing that," 

"Sounds good, well goodnight dude,"

Karl held in a happy squeal, "Night sap,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have like 838572838 other AUs I want to start but none of them can be fit into one shots-

**Author's Note:**

> Put out new chapters for current AUs: ❌
> 
> Impulsively start a new one: ✅


End file.
